Monday, July 31, 2017

Everything Bitter is Sweet

"One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet." Proverbs 27:7

This verse has been rolling around in my mind for the last few days. Well, the second part has. The verse is about food, but that's not where my thoughts have been taking it. I'm not sure this post should even be a devotional, but here it goes.

The World is hungry! It seeks satisfaction for that hunger, so it will try everything. Money or at  least pursuing money seems sweet, but ultimately it doesn't satisfy that hunger Recognition feels good for it's "fifteen minutes of fame" but it;s fleeting, so it doesn't satisfy. Some fame lasts longer, but with that fame comes a loss of privacy, of just being yourself. How can it be sweet to have your every bad hair day spread across the Internet. That certainly isn't sweet. Sex with anyone may seem like freedom, but since it is constantly seeking more sounds more like bondage than freedom. How about good things like friends. Friends are good right? In this social media society where Internet friend counts are so important, one has to wonder how many friends will it take to make it sweet enough? Friends can be great, don't misunderstand, but the lust for more friends, even people you barely know is unfulfilling. Then there are real life friends, as opposed to just Facebook friends. Do these people bring out the best in you or corrupt you? If they bring out the best, that is sweet, but if they don't it usually leads to trouble.The World is always seeking.

We, Christians, use the words "The World" a lot. Put as I was mulling over this verse I realized that I tend to forget the obvious fact that "The World" is people, individuals. People all around us are seeking to fill their hunger. As I sit at red lights, I often look at the others around me. I've caught cars full of people, who aren't saying a word to each other, and looking sullen. I've seen people wipe tears fro their eyes. I've seen the weary and the worried. I often will send up a quick prayer for them. I'm amazed at the fact that I know only a brief moment in their lives, but God knows them intimately. He knows if they are just having a bad day, or if their heart is eating bitter things in the hope that it will sweeten their lives. The World is full of people who know that the things they use to fill their hunger are really bitter, but it's better than nothing. The World is also full of people who seek and seek and seek but are never satisfied. Both these groups need to be filled. They need to know what truly is sweet, or rather Who is.

As Christians we do not need to stand on street corners declaring the Lord, but sometimes He will ask us to. Billy Sunday, one of the influential Christians of the early 20th century was converted by listening to the gospel being preached on a street corner. If the Lord, wishes you to speak on a street corner, then do it. You don't know how many Billy Sundays will hear and find the only One that satisfies that hunger. Living our daily lives brings people to Christ as well. It might only feel like seeds being sown, with someone else harvesting, but these seeds are needed to help fill the hunger. Show people what it means to be filled with something truly sweet. Stop complaining, stop gossiping, and stop publicly worrying about everything. (Yes, ask for prayer from others, but watch how much worry you show to those who are seeking.)  Don't seek the things you know don't bring the filling. Seek Him and others will see that, wonder, and hopefully seek out you to find out how you are being made full.

The World is hunger. People are starving for true satisfaction for their hunger. Listen to how God wants you to show them the One who satisfies that longing. Then follow Him into the way that He wants you to show them Him. Whether it's preaching to the masses or preaching their your everyday words and actions, lets point them to the One who is truly satisfies.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Heaping Coals

"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will be heaping coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you." Proverbs 25:21-22

For the longest time I couldn't understand why heaping coals on someone's head was seen as a good thing. There is nothing in my experience that says, "place some hot, burning stones on someone and they'll be happy". It just seemed to be one of those confusing Scriptures that I would never really understand. Then it was explained to me, the history behind the words.

Many people of that day were travelers, whether temporary ones who were traveling for festivals; caravans that brought goods from one far away place to another; or nomads who moved with their flocks for greener grasses. It took a long time to get anywhere, and nightly camps needed to be set up. One thing that they did was carry hot coals from the previous night's fire with them to make the process go more quickly. In the morning, they would take some coals and place them in a container, and someone carried this upon their head. Another way that people would need such coals, was if their fire went out at home. People would bank their fires until they need to start a new one. This would keep the coals hot enough to start a new fire when needed each day. Sometimes a fire would go out, and they would go to a neighbor to request a coal to start their fire. The coal was placed in a box, basket, or pottery and carried in a similar way on one's head.

When someone needed coals, it was a kindness to place some of your coals into their box. It's equivalent to feeding the needy, as this proverb states, because it was life giving. Someone needed food or water, a true neighbor would share. But these verses aren't about being neighborly. These verses are talking about your enemy. If the one who is mean to you, ridicules you, or abandoned you is in need we are to give to meet their need. That's a different story! Why should I give to someone who has caused me grief or shame? Why should I give to someone who would never give to me? Because we are told to. That doesn't make it easy. It's one of the hardest things we are asked to do. Sometimes I have no idea how to give to my enemy, so I pray that God will heap coals upon their heads. He knows what they need, and when I pray that I believe He will provide what that person needs. I do not pray those words easily. They are usually pushed out through gritted teeth, at least in the beginning. As I continue to pray for my enemies I find it easier to ask that God provides for them, and even if they still see me as their enemy I see them less and less as mine.

Feeding, or giving drink, or heaping burning coals, or praying for my enemies I think is more about me than it is about them. Yes, it gives them what they need. It is also me letting go of my hurt or my anger and giving something undeserved to someone else. Hopefully it will have a changing effect on them, but I can't know for sure that it will. However, I do know that it will have a changing effect on me.

Image result for carry coals on head
http://www.theasian.asia/archives/17194